our education system wasn't forming well, our health-care system wasn't. and so the cathartic event that occurred is very common to most people in their personal terms. when you have a near death experience in your life from personal illness or somebody close to you dies or something happened, it clarifies your mind. when you think that you are on the verge of not being there any more. and you either choose to go forward or choose to quit. you choose to get better, you choose to stay stagnant. the people of new orleans chose not to quit and they chose for the first time in a very long time, maybe 50 years, not only to get better but really to reach out and to take not just the opportunity but we kind of call it the responsibility to get it right this time. and i think that there is a lot of evidence that we're beginning to get it right. now as i have said, i don't think our future is assured. it's just one of these things where you have to be vigilant and work at it every day. but there are some good signals. >> some will also argue that new orleans has ha